88 AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF MONTANA. 



shelter. In the valleys the standing grass cures, with all the 

 nutritive properties held within the tissues, affording excellent 

 hay for winter grazing. 



The region abounds in a great variety of species, the whole 

 number discovered being one hundred and twelve. Some are 

 rare; many have little value, while one or two can only be 

 treated as troublesome weeds. 



Broom-sedge, Broom-grass, or Beard-grass (Aridrqpoffon sco- 

 parius), is widely dispersed from Maine to Texas, and west to the 

 Eocky Mountains. It' grows in dry, thin, or sandy soil, and 

 thus serves a good purpose in furnishing fair forage where little 

 else will grow. In some parts of the Missouri river and Rocky 

 Mountain regions this grass is very abundant, and is highly 

 prized, both for hay and for grazing. In the East it is looked 

 upon as comparatively worthless. 



Eeed Canary -grass (Phalaris arundinacea) grows naturally 

 in Montana in wet places, along streams, etc., and adds a little 

 to the grazing. 



'Mountain Timothy' (Alopecurus pratensis, var. alpestris}. 

 This grass is quite common at elevations of from five to seven 

 thousand feet above the sea, growing in rich soil along mountain 

 streams, and frequenting the so-called ' mountain meadows.' 

 In the large, open park, a few miles west of Neihardt, there are 

 many acres covered wibh this grass, and when I passed through 

 the place, August 14th, it was being harvested for hay. It 

 yields a large bulk of fine, long, bright-colored hay, and is highly 

 valued. It has tall, slender, leafy culms, three feet high, with 

 an oblong head, similar to that of Timothy, whence its local 

 name, but the heads are shorter, thicker, and conspicuously 

 hairy. For the more elevated meadows of the Rocky Mountain 

 region and for northern latitudes, there is no grass which so 

 highly commends itself as this, both for hay and for summer 

 grazing. It is closely allied to the European Meadow Foxtail. 



